• Menu
  • Skip to right header navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

PlanningShop

Plan. Start. Grow.

  • Our Products
  • Instructors
  • Entrepreneurs
  • BizGear
  • Rhonda’s Blog
  • Book Rhonda
  • About PlanningShop
  • Search
  •  
  • Our Products
  • Instructors
  • Entrepreneurs
  • BizGear
  • Rhonda’s Blog
  • Book Rhonda
  • About PlanningShop
  • Search
  •  
Free Apps

8 Free Killer Small Business Apps

August 7, 2015 //  by Rhonda Abrams

Free! Everyone loves getting something free, and if you run a small business, you certainly appreciate saving money. Fortunately, a whole lot of companies want to give you something free to help you run and grow your small business.

A few years ago, “free-mium” was all the rage as the latest business model. During the economic downturn, online companies wanted to capture your business by enticing you with a certain level of service for free, in the hopes you’d upgrade to the “premium” version. Today, there are fewer freebies, but you can still find many applications absolutely and continually free, especially if yours is a very small company.

Here are some free services for your small business you should definitely check out:

1. Build your company’s infrastructure

Google is more than a search engine or email: you can virtually run your whole business on Google. Create, share, and collaborate with Google’s office suite of wordprocessing (Docs), spreadsheets (Sheets), and presentation software (Slides) (www.google.com/docs); store all that content and more with Google Drive’s 8GB free limit; communicate via phone, SMS, or video call on Google Hangout; when people search for businesses like yours, get found through Google’s Get Your Business on the Map initiative (www.gybo.com).

2. Manage projects

Everyone needs a good ‘to do’ list. With Asana, you can manage projects, assign and keep track of tasks, view a team calendar, upload files, and more. Use it at the office or on the go to stay on top of projects without hundreds of emails back and forth.

3. Manage customers

It’s easier to keep a customer than to find a new one. And a CRM (customer relationship management) program makes it easier to keep those customers happy. Track contact information of course, but also birthdays, anniversaries, your customer’s dog’s name. The free version of Insightly gives you access for two users, up to 2500 records, and up to 200 MB of storage. Upgrade when you outgrow this plan and never lose what might be your company’s most important asset—your customer list.

4. Find out what customers want

How do you know what your customers want? Ask them! Conduct surveys about new products, pricing, services, whatever using Survey Monkey for free. If you need only a small survey sample of 100 respondents or fewer, SurveyMonkey is free for up to 10 questions.

5. Communicate with your customers and prospects

It can be unwieldy to regularly stay in touch with your customers and prospects – unless you use an “email newsletter” service. You can send announcements of sales or new products, send holiday greetings, or even send newsletters. MailChimp enables you to create attractive email newsletters quickly—and at no cost. Send up to 12,000 emails per month to a list of up to 2,000 subscribers with MailChimp’s free version.

6. Hold online meetings or conference calls

Conference calls used to be extremely expensive, but with Free Conference Calls, it’s free to hold conference calls with clients or contractors. Sign up, and you’ll get a dedicated number and no charges for the conference capability. Each caller pays their own long distance rates to dial in (if any). The service also allows you to record the teleconference if desired.

For free video conferences, use Skype, likely the best known provider of VoIP (or voice over internet protocol) calls. On Skype, group video calls are now free.

7. Store, share and backup files

Everyone in our office likes using Dropbox to store and share our files, especially when we’re working on a project with writers, editors, and designers, and need to make sure we’re all working on the correct version of a file. Dropbox’s free version starts out at 2 GB of storage per person and you can earn up to a total of 8GB through referring friends. You can work offline and when you’re back online, Dropbox syncs everything automatically.

8. Get a website

A website is a must and yet many small businesses don’t have one. With Wix, Weebly, and WordPress, there are no excuses not to have an online presence. You can get a simple site up quickly—without knowing any technical skills—right after you read this column.


Copyright, Rhonda Abrams, 2015

This article originally ran in USA Today on August 7, 2015

Share this:

  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • LinkedIn
  • Email

Category: Solution Center, USA TodayTag: free, free website, marketing, rhonda abrams, small business apps, small business services, small business video, small business website, video chat, webinar

Previous Post: «Employee or Contractor Independent Contractor? Not so Fast!
Next Post: 7 Sure-fire Ways To Mess Up Your Startup Startup Success»

Primary Sidebar

Subscribe to Rhonda's Blog via Email

Instagram @rhondaabrams

6 tips to win in your small biz negotiation, in my 6 tips to win in your small biz negotiation, in my latest @usatoday column! Link in profile~
.
.
#smallbiztips #smallbiz #negotiation #entrepreneurship
#smallbiz #inspirationalquotes #mondaymotivation # #smallbiz #inspirationalquotes #mondaymotivation #smallbizguru
Wherever you are, whatever your weather, I wish yo Wherever you are, whatever your weather, I wish you a safe & productive weekend. I’m pulling for you, small business owners!
.
.
#smallbiz #weekend #smallbusinessowner #fridayfeeling
#smallbiz #tuesdaythoughts #inspirationalquotes #l #smallbiz #tuesdaythoughts #inspirationalquotes #lunarnewyear2021
#presidentsday #presidentsday
Enjoy your Valentine's Day, whatever form it takes Enjoy your Valentine's Day, whatever form it takes and whoever you're able to spend it with~
.
.
#happyvalentinesday❤️
According to Chinese culture, the ox is a symbol o According to Chinese culture, the ox is a symbol of wealth, prosperity, diligence, and perseverance. Here's to The Year of the Ox, small business owners! Happy Lunar New Year~
.
.
#lunarnewyear #yearoftheox🐂 #smallbusiness #entrepreneurship
#smallbiz #thursdaythoughts #smallbizguru #smallbiz #thursdaythoughts #smallbizguru
7 ways to help your small business in 2021, via my 7 ways to help your small business in 2021, via my current @usatoday column. Link in profile~
.
.
#smallbusiness #inspiration #yearoftheox #chinesenewyear #lunarnewyear
My Tweets
  • 6 tips to win in your small biz negotiation, in my 6 tips to win in your small biz negotiation, in my latest @usatoday column! Link in profile~
.
.
#smallbiztips #smallbiz #negotiation #entrepreneurship
    #smallbiz #inspirationalquotes #mondaymotivation # #smallbiz #inspirationalquotes #mondaymotivation #smallbizguru
    Wherever you are, whatever your weather, I wish yo Wherever you are, whatever your weather, I wish you a safe & productive weekend. I’m pulling for you, small business owners!
.
.
#smallbiz #weekend #smallbusinessowner #fridayfeeling
    #smallbiz #tuesdaythoughts #inspirationalquotes #l #smallbiz #tuesdaythoughts #inspirationalquotes #lunarnewyear2021
    #presidentsday #presidentsday
    Enjoy your Valentine's Day, whatever form it takes Enjoy your Valentine's Day, whatever form it takes and whoever you're able to spend it with~
.
.
#happyvalentinesday❤️
    According to Chinese culture, the ox is a symbol o According to Chinese culture, the ox is a symbol of wealth, prosperity, diligence, and perseverance. Here's to The Year of the Ox, small business owners! Happy Lunar New Year~
.
.
#lunarnewyear #yearoftheox🐂 #smallbusiness #entrepreneurship
  • Footer

    Our Products
    Instructor Central

    Privacy Policy
    Contact Us

    • Email
    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • LinkedIn
    • Twitter

    Copyright © 2021 PlanningShop · All Rights Reserved · Site design by paulinaart

    This website uses cookies to improve your experience. We'll assume you're ok with this, but you can opt-out if you wish. ACCEPT Read More
    Privacy & Cookies Policy

    Privacy Overview

    This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these cookies, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may have an effect on your browsing experience.
    Necessary
    Always Enabled

    Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information.

    Non-necessary

    Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics, ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website.

    SAVE & ACCEPT
    loading Cancel
    Post was not sent - check your email addresses!
    Email check failed, please try again
    Sorry, your blog cannot share posts by email.